A train derailed at a Taunton salt yard Monday afternoon, pulling overhead power lines to the ground.

Workers from Taunton Municipal Lighting Plant were able to shut down electricity flowing to the site minutes after the accident was reported around 2 p.m.

Emergency crews were concerned the freshly toppled lines could electrify the train and tracks, posing a risk to personnel at the scene.

“They were moving the cars back and it just tipped,” said Deputy Fire Chief Scott Dexter.

The site, at 45 Cushman St., known as the “Taunton Salt Yard,” is listed in an online business directory as the American Rock Salt Co. Employees at the scene said no one from the company was available to comment. Calls to American Rock Salt Co. were not returned.

“I try to learn from events like this,” he said. “An event like this, really, it’s extraordinary. You don’t often see trains falling over, knocking over high power lines.”

In some cases, depending on a train’s cargo, a derailment can trigger widespread evacuations, Ferreira said.

In this case, no evacuations were needed and Dexter said no one was injured.

Work trucks from TMLP, Taunton police cruisers and a Taunton Fire Department truck packed into the salt yard parking lot. The sizeable response crew worked in the shadows cast by mountain-sized piles of salt.

TMLP workers at the scene said that just one neighboring business lost power. The workers said they would string a temporary power supply over the train tracks to restore electricity.

At 5 p.m., Dexter said work crews were still at the site trying to clear the tracks.

“They’re still out there working,” he said. “They’ll bring in cranes and pick up one car at a time.”

Dexter said four or five cars fell off the tracks, pulling down the power lines and cutting off power to a refrigeration business near the salt yard. A company representative for the affected business, New England Refrigeration’s Northeast Refrigerated Terminals, at 81 Ingell St., could not be reached for comment.

According to TMLP spokesman Bill Strojny, around 7 p.m. Refrigerated Terminals was still without power, but he expected service to be restored "within two hours."

“Crews are still busy repairing damaged infrastructure at the site,” he said. “Some customers experienced very brief power outages due to the accident this afternoon.”